Marked for Vengeance Read Online Free Page A

against her palm as she reminisced. What a fun night .
    *
* *
    The cable box
read nine o’clock. After eating dinner, cleaning the apartment, and three
glasses of wine later, she settled onto the couch just in time for the program
to start. Her head buzzed from the alcohol, but she watched attentively as it
went over the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign with a nostalgic look in
her eyes, as though she watched a home video hoping to see her favorite parts. This
was for a reason, however – this wasn’t Alyx’s first time on Earth. It was her
third. During her second lifetime, Alyx lived in eighteenth century England,
also known as the Victorian era, which she adored the most.
    Alongside her
brethren, Alyx’s birthplace resided in the darkness that dwelled between the
heavens and the stars, and much like the unusual scar on her shoulder indicated,
their creation served a distinct but vital purpose. Her superiors sent her to
Earth and ordered her to blend into society until they summoned her to capture her
Marked. And if they didn’t summon by the time her Marked passed away, her soul
would ascend back into the darkness as it had done twice before.
    None of her kind
lived longer than three life spans, so this was Alyx’s last time to walk
amongst the humans, which saddened her in a way, but also provided a small
sense of relief. She loved Earth and the humans that inhabited it, but she also
wasn’t sure if she could handle living through another. She learned that life
was full of joy, but also loss and heartache. Another lifetime of that might be
too much, and apparently her superiors had anticipated this.
    She often
wondered, however, what it would be like when her soul departed for good. They never
mentioned during their briefings what would happen once their three lifetimes were
up, and the unknown disquieted her from somewhere within. Despite its ups and
downs, life on Earth was all she knew, and she had become quite good at it.
    During a
commercial, she rested her cheek against the arm of the couch and drifted into
a wine-induced, sound sleep. As she slept, short visions resembling vivid, faraway
memories bounced around inside her head. In one, a lady with ginger hair pulled
into a tightly curled coif wore a fancy Eighteenth-Century gown made with rich,
red and gold fabric. Her skirt split down the front to reveal an ivory
petticoat with matching gold trim. This elegant lady hooked her arm around the
waiting elbow of a gentleman, who sported a camel-colored cutaway coat with an ivory
waistcoat and black breeches. A cropped, dark beard trimmed his face, and he
walked with a limp and a long, black cane. They descended down the stairs in
front of their home to get into a carriage that awaited them on the cobblestone
driveway below, chatting and laughing about the promise the night held.
     Alyx stayed
hidden amongst the shrubbery across the road, grasping a looking glass when the
dream slowly blurred away, fading into muted colors and faint murmurs of the
couple as she fell into a deeper sleep.
    * * *
    The doorbell
startled her awake. Alyx bolted from the couch with her hair in a tangled mess,
the TV still on, and the empty wine bottle on the coffee table beside her. Her eyes
squinted to tiny slits from the light pouring through window, and she cradled
her forehead in her hand. The beginnings of a headache gnawed just above her
right brow.
    She glanced at
the cable box. Two minutes past ten . Cindra, she’s early.
    She snatched the
wine bottle and hustled to the kitchen to toss it in the trash, rubbed her
eyelids, and went to open the door. When she swung it open, there her friend
stood, bright eyed and bushy tailed with two lattes, one in each hand. Cindra
took one look at Alyx’s hair and her eyes widened. “Oh, girl! Who beat
you with the nappy stick?”
    “Good morning to
you too,” Alyx replied, flipping a bird, and headed back into the living room.
    Cindra doubled
over with laughter, cackling and